SKITOURING TO VALEA CERBULUI ON AN ICY DAY
One of the latest ski touring days and this season gets closer to its end. Hope to get a couple of this days down until the end of this quite shitty winter. Maybe next one will be better and I manage to ski the fat animals next year 🙄.
It was so ice that my dental fillings almost fell down 😅.
But it was nice, a good mission a beautiful adventure in these uncertain times…
Until next time, enjoy and ride safe! 👊
FAGARAS MOUNTAINS BACKCOUNTRY SKIING ON A BLIZZARD WEEKEND 22.02.2020
This is from 2 weeks ago when we did some back country skiing in Fagaras mountains. It was not the perfect conditions but no regrets. Any day on the mountain its a good day, if nothing bad happens…. It was fun, riding in winter conditions on flat light and a blizzard, ingredients for a good adventure 🙂
We skied on the south side of Fagaras mountains, around Transfagarasan mountain road, just above Capra hut and bellow Transfagarasan tunnel. Enjoy!
We could not pass the final edition of Metal Enduro without some gratitude words… yes you heard it right, they said it was the last edition… for now, but I for one don’t bite this at all :))). Yes, maybe next year will not be held, just for us to miss it so much and to taste it better when it’s coming back.
We said it before, it’s the greatest enduro competition in Romania, the trails, the crew, the city, the time, its perfect. I love it so much because this contest transformed me and showed me why I want to ride my bike so much and made me a better rider each year… hope it comes back soon.
This edition was not second to others, it was in the same format as last year but it felt better. Somehow I think I got more mature as a rider and start treating it better, carefully and looking to have more fun. I like this in a contest, and I m glad I changed my approach to them. I am really looking forward for next year to see if I can keep this state of mind :D.
The trails don’t need no introduction, you’ve seen it in previous post like this one so bellow we leave you some row segments from the contest, some pictures and a trailer from last year cause we liked it so much.
We didn’t make an edit yet but we have the material for it. Maybe we will make it when the contest comes back to life 😆😅.
We wold like to send our many thanks tot the crew from Bike Attack Resita for holding this beautiful contest and the hole Romanian Enduro Cup! I bet it was a great journey and we loved being a small part of it! Cheers mates and cant wait to see you guys again on the trails or on the race office 🤣👊💪.
As a reminder, the effects of this year Enduro Cup ware:
The calendar for next year Romanian Enduro Cup it’s already up and we have 2 new stages at Sinaia and Bacau. Cant wait for this season, my hands and feet are aching already! 🤩
Probably the worst ski day so far, ever.
20 km ride, 19km ski carry, 1km of effective “ski” …
However, the mountain goats and the ridge of the mountain have somehow repaired the mistake.
This valley is very nice to ski and we plan to return. Eventually we sleep in the Grind refuge and at the first glimpse of light we climb La Om peak and descend. I think that would be great.
I hope to return this year and ski it in a more elegant way, or at least ski it from the top of La Om peak, that would be super awesome!
Until then, ride safe!
Make Heaven from what you have … or as they say …
If you want to ski you can, quite a lot. Maybe from a quality point of view it is more sad, but we will certainly ski until April at least…
You just have to know where to go skiing, not to expect much out of it and to know how to avoid traffic 😀 these are some key factors for a satisfying ski day.
I predict that we will have a few more days like this and declare ourselves satisfied. This does not mean that we must remain blind to the things that change around us and we must be passive.
Probably the governments must take the problem of global warming and climate change more seriously, and probably technology will play a key role in solving this, but our ways of leaving must change and that is soon…
Until then, ride safe!
Throwback Saturday, Harghita Enduro. Hope this one will be revived in the future, the trails are just great. I know for sure my rims will miss PS3 😅👊🍻. Enjoy!
Ok, this country has some faults, nothing is perfect, but if you come to live with them and you love nature, you will find happiness here. We have traveled some and we liked what we saw over our borders, but somehow, I for one am always drawn back here, to Romanian mountains. Not the tallest, not the steepest, not the most beautiful, but they resemble us… complex, complicated :))
One thing I like about romanian mountains are the mountain huts. Basic, old, rugged but in a cozy kind of way. One place in particular that I’ve always come back to with pleasure is Barcaciu hut in Fagaras mountains.
Here I found knowledge, friendship, beauty, and will. The will to do something in the area, to develop and to offer free know how and that pleased me a lot.
This place is nice, Mihai, the guy in charge of the hut, along with his parents are making a great job on keeping the old hut alive.
This place is just great and if I had lived closer to the area, I would have visited it more often, alongside with the other huts in the north west part of the Făgăraș mountains.
This part of Făgăraș is the greatest, lots of trails, great amazing ridge, lot of snow in the winter and great people!
And don’t forget the food, they know how to cook a great meal! Mrs. Mariana, Mihai’s mom it’s a great cook and half of the reason I go to Barcaciu is for the meals I get :))), no lie here :D. The other half would be the trails and the snow in the winter. There are some spots there where you can have some great ski touring days if the weather and the mountain allow it.
We’ve been there already this winter and we got half lucky. Great day, not too cold and not too windy, and with decent snow conditions. We had some bad visibility, flat light on Puha descent but we had to deal with it. You cannot have it all, and you have to learn how to be grateful for what you received.
If on Saturday we had a bit of luck and we had a full ski touring day, on Sunday the snow came and we had to stay near the hut because of the bad visibility and unstable snow. But Mihai didn’t let us rest, he made sure we remembered how to use our avalanche safety and rescue equipment and had some avalanche rescue drills near the hut. We tried also to ski some of the fresh pow but the visibility was just too bad, so we called it a day. Not bad for the first ski touring weekend of the season.
If you want to discover the area in terms of ski touring, the event held by Mihai each spring is a good start, just check out Schi de tura la Barcaciu in the first weekend of spring :D. And here, another beautyful weekend spend here!
Thanks Barcaciu for all the good times! Cheers mate!
Ok, judging from the first pic of this post, this is a proper winter for shredding… but take a look at the other pictures… and this happens in January 12, 2020… this is critical…
Not even in spring did we catch these conditions here. Don’t look too far, we ourselves are the cause. But how radical the situation must become in order for us to change this… I’m really curious if technology or something else will save this one…ok, let’s leave this aside, for now.
This weekend we did the Lespezi descent, a bit too early because of the poor snow and spring conditions.
Lespezi peak is one of the easiest to access 2500m peak in Făgăraș mountains, and one that you can ski from the very top.
It’s a nice tour, the pictures from the last part of the climb, and from the peak are just awesome, as well as the descent. This one calmed my appetite for ski, but not for long. I really hope it’s one of those late winters that shows their strength in March :D, how wonderful would it be!
Until then ride safe!
Last year in August, Ciucaș Enduro was revived in a new, not so competitive but pretty awesome form.
It was a friendly enduro contest, something more like a gathering, in which riders treated the so called contest as they wished. Some of them really battled but most of the riders present were only there to ride the trails with their friends and to somehow have a taste of how an enduro contest is held.
It’s a good thing because people get to see how an enduro mtb contest is like but have way more fun. Not everybody is prepared for racing enduro and this way you get a casual intro into riding enduro.
Besides this, you get some cleaned trails, music, food, great beer and lots of fun with your mates or get to know new people from the community.
Hope the contest will be held next year too, because we really enjoyed it and had a great time riding and having fun.
Thanks to all volunteers and organizers for making it possible. Cheers mates! 🚵♂👊🍻
Ok, so the season had to end with some quality bikepacking trip and all had gone down thanks to NevAcademy and their great bikes.
We wanted to go back to Cindrel mountains because last time we came here we had 48h of rain which made us cut short the track we wanted to do. This time, thanks to Adrian and his electric bikes, we managed to do the track in a record time and we had some great fun going uphill, not only downhill.
Let me tell you, it’s something else with the electric bike, a totally different kind of ride, you have loads of fun going uphill, you cover a lot more ground, and you workout quite the same. As I see it so far, if you live next to a mountain, don’t hesitate to buy an electric bike, it’s exactly what you need. The electric bike will not replace your old trusty non-electric bike but it will complete “the ride”, trust me.
As we live in Bucharest, and have to go 2h minimum by car to reach any mountain, the electric bike is not yet an option but we shall talk in a few years…
Ok, so our trip was already planned from last year, we knew the track we wanted to do and where we wanted to sleep.
We wanted to reach Cindrel peak, then Frumoasa peak, descent on the rocky road down to the road that takes you to Gura Râului and then go up to Cindrel mountain refuge. Only that, on the way up we stumbled upon a nice hut belonging to the forester in the area, and it had a room opened. It looked too good to be true and we decided to spend the night there. It was so warm and cozy that we didn’t even inflate our mattresses… It was the best sleep I had in a while ☺
Next day we did some inventory on our equipment (watch the movie below), and then up on the bikes and up the mountain, back to the ridge of Cindrel mountains. We passed Cindrel refuge and then did some electric push bike until we reached the ridge. From there we descended to Canaia refuge on the other side of the ridge and then back to Păltiniș on an awesome trail that goes from Bătrâna Cole. Man it was fun, so fun that we were howling like wolves on the descend 🤭🤙.
This weekend made me reconsider the possibility of owning an electric bike in the future and opened up some new ideas of rides in the future, some hybrid ones, just you wait 😜.
Thanks Adrian and NevAcademy for the ride, we had a great time and can’t wait to ride together again.
Until then, we leave you with the material below to take your own conclusions. Ride safe!
Ok, sezonul rece si noroios s-a instaurat si este momentul perfect sa prospectam o astfel de unealta care ar trebui sa fie nelipsita din portbagajul riderilor independenti de sezoan :P.
Oricum, avand in vedere ca suntem trecuti de jumatatea lunii decembrie si inca ne dam cu spor, putem spune ca este o iarna bikefriendly si cred ca putem deja sa dam crezare “zvonurilor” cu incalzirea globala…. dar cine stie, poate luna martie o sa fie adevaratul gerar
Revenind la JET2GO, am intrat in posesia acestei jucarii prin intermediul unui prieten, Dan Mazilu de la freerider.ro, care mi-a propus as il iau, sa il folosesc si sa imi zic o parere obiectiva despre el.
Fiind posesor de un Karcher OC3, chiar eram curios ce altceva mai este pe piata si cu ce vine nou.
Va zic din start ca desi au acelasi scop, sunt foarte diferite si modul in care le veti utiliza o sa difere. De ce? din cauza aspectului si practicabilitatii fiecaruia dintre cele 2 aparate.
Unul este mic, cu doar 4 litri de apa si un aumulator intern si unul este destul de bulky, cu vreo 15 litri de apa si cu incarcare la priza de 12v sau la bricheta masinii.
Daca as avea o masina cu un portbagaj generos, eventual cu priza in portbagaj, nici nu as sta pe ganduri, as lua jet2go fara probleme, l-as pune in portbagaj si as uita de el. Eventual l-as umple la nevoie cu apa. Daca as avea o masina mai mica, in care stiu ca daca intram 3 insi cu bagaje si mergem la o tura, atunci poate as sta putin pe ganduri, desi, cei 15 litri de rezervor imi surad nespus de mult.
Daca Karcherul trebuie sa il scoti din portbagaj ca sa il folosesti si trebuie sa ai o rezerva de apa caci cei 4 litri abia iti ajung sa speli o bicicleta, jet 2go nici nu trebuie miscat. Il lasi in portbagaj, ii cuplezi dusul, il bagi in alimentare si il pornesti, fara sa il ridici din portbagaj, si iti faci treaba cu el, spaland cam 2-3 biciclete cu 1 rezervor, depinde cat de pretetios si insistent este cel care le spala. Cu tehnica corecta de spalare poti ajunge si la 4 biciclete. Nici nu este indicat sa te fatai cu el umplut cu 15 kg decat daca ai dat drumu la antrenamentul pt sezonul de ski. Chiar este foarte greu umplut cu 15 kg de apa si nu foarte portabil.
Legat de constructia aparatului, este foarte robust si are un feeling foarte heavy duty. Nu este genul de obiect pe care ti-l doresti curat si stralucitor, ci parca vrei sa arate pt ce a fost facut. Este cat se poate de simplu si intuitivi cu un buton de pornire, un port pt alimentare si cablul pt dush, toate in partea din spate a aparatului.
Are 2 buzunare laterale de plasa in care poti sa depozitezi cablurile sau periile cu care vine din dotare.
Ca si accesorii incluse, regasim in pachet urmatoarele:
Totusi, lista poate continua prin urmatoarele optionale:
Treaba cu acumulatorul extern care este si lanterna este chiar faina. Cati dintre voi tineti o lanterna in masina. Daramite o baterie externa atat de puternica. Nu stii niciodata cand iti moare bateria masinii in mijlocul “pustietatii” sau cum se zice in filme, “in the middle of f**** nowhere” si colac peste pupaza mai ai si 5% baterie la telefon. Da, e highly improbable dar este o sansa.
Oricum, acumulatorul extern este foarte fain si suprinzator de puternic, putand deservi vreo 4 goliri de rezervoare adica un numar considerabil de spalari.
Un alt accesoriu util este adaptorul pt priza, facand astfel jet2go mai versatil, in sensul ca il poti lua in casa sa iti speli balconul, sau, sa iti speli bicicleta pe balcon daca nu ai un balcon prea fancy.
Si, cred ca cel mai tare accesoriu care inclus este dusul. Nu cred ca sunt singurul care visez la ture lungi, la explorat poteci noi si la concedii nomadice in locuri indepartate in care sa campez langa masina dupa o zi de date pe poteci faine. O astfel de tura nu trebuie sa lipseasca din nici un sezon, macar una pe an. Ca e de bikepacking, ca te muti cu masina de la poteca la poteca, este foarte fain atunci cand campezi langa masina si este si mai fain atunci cand stii ca poti sa faci chiar si un dus. Accesoriul asta chiar este super fain si chiar daca il folosesti o singura data pe an, parca isi justifica indeajuns scopul :).
oki, hai sa cumulam mai jos specificatiile tehnice ale acestui aparat:
Nu as vrea sa dau mai multe detalii despre acesta aparat si v-as redirecta catre articolul de pe freerider.ro care este mult mai detaliat.
Am vrut doar sa va impartasesc parerea mea legata de acest aparat. Este un aparat care merita si isi justifica pretul si o astfel de ustensila nu trebuie sa lipseasca din portbagajul celor care weekend de weekend ies la dat.
Verificati articolul lui Dan la urmatorul link, Test de lunga durata – spalator portabil cu presiune jet2go, si de asemenea verificati si materialul foto video de mai jos.
Keep on riding all year long!
Un articol inspirat de freerider.ro 😉
Sorry for the late post, but only now I found the time to do this 😅
I have some videos from this season that I am going to process, probably during the winter, most of them from Enduro stages that happened this year.
Now is the time for Metal Enduro RAW lines. It is fun to see how some of the top 10 riders in RO treated the technical parts of the tracks, a real joy to watch.
Until next video, enjoy and ride safe because the season is not over yet 🤙. Check the youtube channel for videos of metal enduro special stages, all 8 of them 😁
Yeah, and with my thanks to the friends from Bike Attack Reșița for this wonderful enduro season! 🚵♂🥇🏆👊
Yep, another superb one in Mehedinți county 😜, this time 3 new trails and some fun riding on the old ones.
We can’t get enough of this place, it has something different to it, something like a… wonderland 😀 and our buddies here are just cool to ride and hang out with, so no wonder we always come back here with great pleasure. And I have a feeling that it is not the last stop here for this year 😅🤙.
So, this time we did Domogled descent with Feregari descent, and afterwards we went to Tasnei valley and did some hardcore riding, and when I say hardcore, I really mean it. That trail made you look very hard for the word flow in it … But it worked out ok 💪🤭.
After this totally hardcore Saturday, we did the Mehedinți Enduro trails on Sunday, but with a surprising one, the old but new Priest trail which is pretty awesome let me say :D, just check out the video bellow.
Here you can find the videos and some pics from that great weekend. Aaaa, and don’t let me forget, Thanks Jan and Alex for the great pictures and for the great riding, it was a pleasure riding with you and follow you on the trail 👊🍻.
You can find the links to the trails here: Domogled Trail; Feregari Trail; Priest Trail.
Until next time, ride safe! 🚵♂
Another epic one in Bucegi Mountains, Omu peak – Țigănești – Clincea – Bran descent.
This one was pure gold! Glad I listened to Petre Paraschiv on this one because it was so epic. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Omu peak in Bucegi mountains, classic route, pretty crowded…. that’s why I don’t look so eager to go there. The scenery is just breathtaking but I kind of like less crowded trails.
But the descent was just so good and met up just 2 groups of hikers.
The weather was almost perfect, at Omu peak it was looking like it’s about to snow, we had our hands and feet cold as ice, and pretty hard to brake in these conditions… But after we passed Scara peak, the temperature was better. And that’s where the fun part begun!
A trail with lots of flow, but also some steep technical parts that challenged us.
Be careful because you have some carry bike to do, and some chains in sight, almost like via ferrata :P. But after that part, that is also very amazing, the fun part begins.
Check out the track HERE, and the video also. On youtube channel if you look it up you will find the extended version of the video ;). Enjoy and ride safe!
5th national cup race, second time at Harghita Enduro, and it was uberfine!
All things lined up for a perfect weekend, the crew, the accommodation, the weather, the weekend (with world cup dh finals in line) just perfect. We had lots of fun hanging out together, catching up with the boys from other areas of the country and just riding perfect trails.
At these events it’s not all about the racing. Maybe for the top places it is but for middle riders it’s more about hanging together and about the atmosphere that creates around the event.
Last year it rained like crazy and this year it was dry like desert. Totally different conditions and the trails are too. In dry conditions I think you really get to see the harder part of Harghita trails. When trying to ride them fast, they really bite you 😉
There are 3 different trails here, one harder than the other, the last PS being the dh course with a hard-steep part at the top and a flow line at the bottom.
All specials decents around 300m elevation and have almost 2km in length. The transfer is on a fire road that is used for reaching all PS starts. For exact map of the contest trails, check out trailforks here ;).
There are a lot of options for accommodation in the area all with great stuff, clean spaces and good food. This year we stayed at Vitus Pension with more of a mountain hut feel, and all we can say is that the food was just GREAT! Sugo pension, where the race office was, is a great option to ;).
Madaras peak is near, around 30min hike, and is a great peak to reach because of the view and the unique appearance.
For a different story, also check out the article from last year here.
Special thanks to Ride more crew and Bike Attack Resita for organizing the event and the cup!
Until Metal Enduro, ride safe and have fun! See you there 😉
Year of firsts ;), Semenic Enduro. I think all riders that didn’t know the area, were very surprised of Semenic trails, we for sure were. Man, the dirt, the rocks, the lines… just sick!
This one is not to be missed next year, you must trust us on this. Or better, check out the clip above and the pics bellow and we are sure it will be enough 🤣🤟.
The trails are technical, with rocks and different lines, loam and dirt. All of these make it quite difficult and challenging to ride at a higher speed. Don’t get us wrong, they have a lot of flow, but you have to pay attention and work a bit to get back from the trails safe ;).
One second of distraction and you will pay for it :)). The stages are demanding and long and you will feel it, for sure on ps2. When you think you finished it, bam! the hard part begins :D.
The top of the mountain has some different feel to it, the view, the abandoned mountain hotels make it that way. We enjoy riding here a lot, and being so close to Resita, makes this place a destination to visit even beside the contest ;).
Thanks again Bike Attack Resita for putting another spot on the map, you can look up the contest trails here, on trailforks!
Until next time, ride safe!
Vertical Riding Romania 